Rule 2-415.Deposition — Procedure

Circuit Court · Last amended January 1, 2019 · Last verified July 13, 2026

In one sentenceRule 2-415 walks through the mechanics of taking a deposition, from swearing in the deponent through transcribing, correcting, certifying, and objecting to the testimony.

Full Text of Rule 2-415

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k)

(a) Oath and record of testimony. — The deponent shall be put on oath by the officer before whom a deposition is taken, and the testimony of the deponent shall be recorded by the officer or by someone acting under the direction and in the presence of the officer. The testimony shall be recorded stenographically or, pursuant to Rule 2-416, by electronic audio or audio-video recording. The testimony shall also be transcribed unless the parties agree otherwise or unless the court orders otherwise to avoid expense, hardship, or injustice. The court may order one or more of the parties to pay the cost of transcription.

(b) Examination and cross-examination. — When a deposition is taken upon oral examination, examination and cross-examination of the deponent may proceed as permitted in the trial of an action in open court. The cross-examination need not be limited to the subject matter of the examination in chief, but its use shall be subject to the provisions of Rule 2-419. Instead of participating in the oral examination, a party served with a notice of deposition may transmit written questions to the officer before whom the deposition is taken, who shall propound them to the deponent.

(c) Materials produced. — Any party may inspect and copy documents and other tangible things produced by a deponent and may require them to be marked for identification and attached to and returned with the transcript. However, if the person producing the materials requests their return, (1) the person producing the materials, upon affording each party an opportunity to verify the copies by comparison with the originals, may substitute copies to be marked for identification and attached to and returned with the transcript, or (2) the person producing the materials may offer the originals to be marked for identification, after affording each party an opportunity to inspect and copy them, in which event the materials may be used in the same manner as if attached to and returned with the transcript. Any party may move for an order that the originals be attached to and returned with the transcript to the court, pending final disposition of the case.

(d) Signature and Changes. — Unless changes and signing are waived by the deponent and the parties, the officer shall submit the transcript to the deponent, accompanied by a notice in substantially the following form:

[Caption of case] NOTICE TO [name of deponent] The enclosed transcript of your deposition in the above-captioned case is submitted to you on [date of submission of the transcript to the deponent] for your signature and any corrections or other changes you wish to make. All corrections and other changes will become part of your sworn testimony.

After you have read the transcript, sign it and, if you are making changes, attach to the transcript a separate correction sheet stating the changes and the reason why each change is being made. Return the signed transcript and any correction sheet to [name and address of officer before whom the deposition was taken] no later than 30 days after the date stated above.

If you fail to return the signed transcript and any correction sheet within the time allowed, the transcript may be used as if signed by you. See Rules 2-415 and 2-501 of the Maryland Rules of Procedure.

Within 30 days after the date the officer mails or otherwise submits the transcript to the deponent, the deponent shall (1) sign the transcript and (2) note any changes to the form or substance of the testimony in the transcript on a separate correction sheet, stating the reason why each change is being made. The officer promptly shall serve a copy of the correction sheet on the parties and attach the correction sheet to the transcript. The changes contained on the correction sheet become part of the transcript. If the deponent does not timely sign the transcript, the officer shall sign the transcript, certifying the date that the transcript was submitted to the deponent with the notice required by this section and that the transcript was not signed and returned within the time allowed. The transcript may then be used as if signed by the deponent, unless the court finds, on a motion to suppress under section (k) of this Rule, that the reason for the failure to sign requires rejection of all or part of the transcript.

(e) Certification and notice. — The officer shall attach to the transcript a certificate that the deponent was duly sworn and that the transcript is a true record of the testimony given. A transcript prepared from a certified electronic audio or audio-video recording may be certified by any person qualified to act as a deposition officer. The officer shall then securely seal the transcript in an envelope endorsed with the title of the action and marked “Deposition of (here insert name of deponent).”

(f) Copy to be furnished. — Upon receiving payment of reasonable charges, the officer shall furnish a copy of the transcript to any party or to the deponent.

(g) Interpreter. — If the deponent is an individual who needs an interpreter, as defined in Rule 1-333 (a)(2), the party who issued the notice of deposition is responsible for obtaining an interpreter at that party’s expense. The interpreter shall meet the requirements of Rule 1-333 (c)(1).

(h) Objections. — All objections made during a deposition shall be recorded with the testimony. An objection to the manner of taking a deposition, to the form of questions or answers, to the oath or affirmation, to the conduct of the parties, or to any other kind of error or irregularity that might be obviated or removed if objected to at the time of its occurrence is waived unless a timely objection is made during the deposition. An objection to the competency of a witness or to the competency, relevancy, or materiality of testimony is not waived by failure to make it before or during a deposition unless the ground of the objection is one that might have been obviated or removed if presented at that time. The grounds of an objection need not be stated unless requested by a party. If the ground of an objection is stated, it shall be stated specifically, concisely, and in a non-argumentative and non-suggestive manner. If a party desires to make an objection for the record during the taking of a deposition that reasonably could have the effect of coaching or suggesting to the deponent how to answer, then the deponent, at the request of any party, shall be excused from the deposition during the making of the objection.

(i) Refusals to answer. — When a deponent refuses to answer a question, the proponent of the question shall complete the examination to the extent practicable before filing a motion for an order compelling discovery.

(j) Further deposition upon substantive changes to transcript. — If a correction sheet contains substantive changes, any party may serve notice of a further deposition of the deponent limited to the subject matter of the substantive changes made by the deponent unless the court, on motion of a party pursuant to Rule 2-403, enters a protective order precluding the further deposition.

(k) Motions to suppress. — An objection to the manner in which testimony is transcribed, recorded by electronic audio or audio-video means, or to the manner in which a transcript is prepared, signed, certified, sealed, endorsed, transmitted, filed, or otherwise dealt with by the officer is waived unless a motion to suppress all or part of the deposition is made promptly after the defect is or with due diligence might have been ascertained. In ruling on a motion to suppress, the court may grant leave to any party to depose the deponent further on terms and conditions the court deems appropriate.

End

Amendment History

Amended Mar. 22, 1991, effective July 1, 1991; Dec. 16, 1999, effective Jan. 1, 2000; Dec. 8, 2003, effective July 1, 2004; December 7, 2015, effective January 1, 2016; October 10, 2018, effective January 1, 2019.

Committee Note & Source

Cross references. See Rule 2-501 (e) for the consequences of filing an affidavit or other written statement under oath that contradicts deposition testimony that was not changed within the time allowed by this section.

Committee note. During the taking of a deposition, it is presumptively improper for an attorney to make objections that are not consistent with Rule 2-415 (h). Objections should be stated as simply, concisely, and non-argumentatively as possible to avoid coaching or making suggestions to the deponent and to minimize interruptions in the questioning of the deponent. Examples include “objection, leading;” “objection, asked and answered;” and “objection, compound question.”

Source. This Rule is derived as follows:

Section (a) is derived from former Rule 409 c.

Section (b) is derived from former Rule 409 a.

Section (c) is derived from former Rule 411 b 3.

Section (d) is derived from in part from former Rules 411 a and 412 e and in part from the 1993 version of Fed. R. Civ. P. 30 (e).

Section (e) is derived from former Rule 411 b 1, 2 and 5.

Section (f) is derived from former Rule 411 b 4.

Section (g) is new.

Section (h) is derived from former Rules 409 c 2, and 412 c 1 and 2.

Section (i) is derived from former Rule 422 a 2.

Section (j) is new.

Section (k) is derived from former Rule 412 d and e.

Plain-English Summary

This rule is the operating manual for the deposition itself. The officer swears in the deponent and records the testimony (by stenographer or, under Rule 2-416, by audio or audio-video recording), and the testimony generally gets transcribed unless the parties agree to skip that step or a court waives it to avoid expense, hardship, or injustice. Examination and cross-examination proceed much like they would at trial, and a party can also submit written questions to the officer instead of asking them directly. Anything a deponent produces, like documents, can be inspected, copied, and marked, with rules for handling originals the producing person wants back. Once the transcript is ready, the deponent generally gets 30 days to read it, sign it, and note any corrections on a separate sheet explaining the reason for each change; if the deponent misses that deadline, the officer certifies the transcript and it can be used as if the deponent had signed it. A correction sheet with substantive changes can trigger a further deposition limited to those changes, unless the court blocks it with a protective order.

The rule also governs how objections and disputes get handled. Objections to how the deposition was conducted have to be made on the spot or they're waived, though objections to a witness's competency or to the relevance of testimony survive even without a contemporaneous objection, unless the problem was the kind that could have been fixed if raised at the time. Objections should be short and neutral, not a way to coach the witness; if a party wants to make a coaching-adjacent objection, the deponent can be excused from the room while it's made. If a deponent refuses to answer, the questioner has to push the rest of the examination as far as practical before running to court on a motion to compel. And any complaint about how the transcript itself was prepared, signed, certified, or handled has to come by a prompt motion to suppress, not a surprise objection at trial.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a deponent have to review and sign a deposition transcript?

Thirty days from when the officer submits the transcript, unless the deponent and the parties waive the signature and review step entirely.

What happens if the deponent doesn't sign the transcript in time?

The officer signs it instead, certifying when it was submitted and that it wasn't returned in time. The transcript can then be used as if the deponent had signed it, unless the court later finds on a motion to suppress that the reason for the delay justifies rejecting part or all of it.

Can a deponent change their testimony after the deposition?

Yes, on the correction sheet that accompanies the signed transcript, along with a stated reason for each change. If the changes are substantive, any party can notice a further deposition limited to those changes, unless the court enters a protective order against it.

How should attorneys object during a deposition?

Objections should be stated specifically, concisely, and without argument or suggestion to the witness. If an objection risks coaching the deponent on how to answer, the deponent can be excused from the deposition while it's made.

What if a witness refuses to answer a deposition question?

The questioning attorney should finish the rest of the examination as far as practical before filing a motion for an order compelling discovery, rather than cutting the deposition short.

How do you challenge problems with how a deposition was recorded or transcribed?

By a motion to suppress all or part of the deposition, filed promptly after the defect is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.

Source & verification. Rule text, Committee Note, Source note, and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Maryland Rules, adopted by the Supreme Court of Maryland. Last verified July 13, 2026. · Official source

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